Toby the Terrapin, Part 2

Back on Jan. 9, I posted about Toby the Piano-Playing Terrapin, owned and exhibited by Alexander Barbee of Savannah, Georgia back in the 1920s.

And then, about a week ago, I was contacted by Barbee's great-granddaughter, who reported that she came across my post while searching for info about her great-grandfather. She writes:

My great-grandfather was definitely a character.  He was written about by Joseph Mitchell for the New Yorker and also for his book, "Up in the Old Hotel".

My mother could tell you all about Toby, including the story of Toby's birth.  He was purportedly born in the hand of William Jennings Bryan (there's more to it).  And of course he would wink at the ladies, etc.  He is seated at one of my g-g's music boxes (there was an enormous collection of them).

She sent along some higher quality pictures of Alexander Barbee and Toby. In the first picture, Toby is a little hard to see, but you can just make him out on top of the table in the center of the photo (where he's seated at his piano).

WU is proud to be the premier online source of information about piano-playing terrapins!



     Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 04, 2014
     Category: 1920s





Comments
We've hit the big time! Entered the main stream. Jetted off to new heights!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 02/04/14 at 09:25 AM
Looks like Toby the Turtle to me, but he's cute.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 02/04/14 at 05:52 PM
@ Patty, It's like this. All Terrapin ARE Turtles, But not all Turtles are Terrapin! :lol: :coolsmile:
Posted by Tyrusguy on 02/05/14 at 10:14 AM
That's so neat! I really thought the original story was cool, and I love it when people find information on the web, and then augment it with additional stuff! 😊
Posted by Kyle Morgan on 02/06/14 at 01:33 PM
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